CLASS OF 1859

Chester Williams Eaton died May 3 at his home in Wakefield, Mass.

He was born in Wakefield, January 3, 1839, his father being Lilley Eaton, and he traced his descent from the early settlers of the town.

He took the course of the Chandler School, and was a member of the Phi Zeta Mu fraternity (now Sigma Chi).

From graduation until August, 1862, he studied law. September 19, 1862, he enlisted in the Fiftieth Regiment, Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, and served with the regiment till the expiration of its term of service. August 24, 1863, in the Department of the Gulf, participating in the campaign ending with the surrender of Port Hudson, La.

In 1863-4 he studied at Harvard Law School and in the office of Gooch and Copeland of Boston. In 1864 he was admitted to the bar, and had an office for many years in Boston, where he was for some years in partnership with his classmate, Samuel K. Hamilton. He had served the town of Wake-field as clerk, tax collector, member of the school committee, and library trustee. For several years he was treasurer of the Wake-field Savings Bank.

Mr. Eaton was greatly interested historical matters, and was the founder and first president of the Wakefield Historical Society. He collaborated with his father in writing the histories of Wakefield, Reading, and North Reading, and had himself written much about the history of Wakefield and vicinity. It was largely through his efforts that the 250th anniversary of the settlement of Old Reading was celebrated in 1894.

Mr. Eaton's wife, who was Emma G. Leach of Rye, N. H., survives him, and two sons and a daughter.